For the first time in my life I found myself heading up a major event for my ward. The Relief Society Birthday Celebration, yikes! Don't get me wrong I've done a party or two, but nothing at this scale. And to be completely honest its been a few years since I have even attended this event. I was seriously kicking myself for that one. It would have been nice to have an idea of whats been done in the past.

Coming up with the theme seemed the most daunting when I was told "whatever you want will be great". I think that one sentence gives me more anxiety than anything because there is not one once of direction. Maybe its just me, but does anyone else feel that way? Any who, I finally settled on "Meet The Relief Society". After watching Jenna Kim Jones do that very thing on the streets of New York City in Meet the Mormons. I thought how fun it would be to walk around the ward and ask them questions relating to Relief Society. Seriously funny stuff and doing this in my ward yielded the same results. I did, however, ask some serious questions too so I was able to swing things around so that the spirit was felt and hopefully the sisters walked away with a renewed sense of sisterhood.

The questions I asked were:

What year was the Relief Society founded?
Who was the first General Relief Society President?
Can you name the last three Relief Society Presidents of our ward?
What age do you enter Relief Society?
What does "Relief" mean?
What are you most looking forward to when you're in Relief Society?
What does your mom do in Relief Society?
What do we learn about in Relief Society?
and finally, What does Relief Society mean to you?

I asked these questions to the Bishopric, members of the Stake Presidency, the men and women of the ward as well as the youth and primary. I asked three questions per interview and only asked the questions that pertained to who I was asking them to. I used my phone to record them and then ended the video with a short clip called Enduring Legacy. I am no expert, but it turned out, so I'm not complaining. When the film was finished I talked a bit about how we don't need to know all of the answers, what calling we hold doesn't matter, but what does matter is the sisterhood that we are given through Relief Society.

The decor was vintage inspired and my dear friend Emily knocked it our of the ball park. The bird cages were the cutest things ever and you know I was just dying over all of the crocheted doilies!! The paper doilies hanging from the ceiling really pulled everything together.

The food was simple and light and just perfect. we served chicken croissant sandwiches with fruit and veggies and homemade sugar cookies made by the amazing Jamie Scott. I can't believe I didn't get a picture!

And I can't not talking about all the fresh flowers on all of the tables. Smelled divine and made me antsy to get home and get planting.

I must say, I learned a lot and have my list of things that I will definitely need to fix for next time, but I came away with a deeper love for the sisters in my ward. They are so full of love and willing to pitch in when they see this newbie struggling. Oh how I love the sisterhood that is Relief Society!!!